Party of Pro-American President Defeated in Georgia Elections

Billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili’s Georgia Dream bloc party won Georgia’s parliamentary election on October 1, defeating the party of President Mikheil Saakashvili.

The Georgia Dream bloc now holds 77 of the 150 seats in Georgia’s parliament, and Saakashvili has accepted the people’s decision.

This ushers in what will be the first democratic transfer of power in Georgia’s post-Soviet history. And it also portends change from pro-American Saakashvili to the unknown positions of Ivanishvili.

What is known is that Ivanishvili is pro-Russia and reluctant to explain whether he’ll pursue policies that are more pro-Western or more pro-Russian.

He was able to take advantage of disgruntled, older Georgians who still feel some attachment to the Soviet Union and who may be willing to get closer to Russia if that will change the fact that half of Georgia’s “population has no proper job.”